Rare £500 note from 100 years ago found – and it will fetch an eye-watering price
An ‘EXCEPTIONAL’ rare £500 banknote is expected to sell for as much as £28,000 when it goes under the hammer.
The note dates from 1929 and is the only surviving note signed by Basil G Catterns, Chief Cashier of the Bank of England.
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The note was the second highest currency during that period and was typically traded between banks, merchants and wholesalers.
It was first put into circulation in 1725 and was legal tender until 1943.
The £500 note was signed off by the head cashier due to its high value.
Since it was never cashed, the owner was probably extremely wealthy.
The banknote has been in the possession of a British collector for more than a decade and threatens to spark a fierce bidding war when it goes under the hammer at London-based auctioneer Noonans.
Andrew Pattison, head of the banknote department at auction house Noonans, said: “This is an astonishingly rare and important banknote, and it is in beautifully clean condition, especially considering it is now almost 100 years old.
‘Anyone handling large sums of money at the time might have had the opportunity to take advantage of it, but ordinary people would not have heard of it.
‘The remarkable fact is that this was never deposited into the bank again.
“For anyone who collects Catterns banknotes or even Bank of England banknotes, this would probably be the highlight of their collection.”
The sale will take place on March 14.
How to spot rare coins and banknotes that could be worth hundreds
Rare coins and banknotes hidden at the back of your sofa can be sold for hundreds of euros.
If you are lucky enough to find a rare €10 note, you may be able to sell it for several times its face value.
You can recognize rare notes by looking at the serial numbers.
These numbers are found on the side with the Monarch’s face, just below the £10 denomination in the corner of the banknote.
Even if you have a serial number on your note that is quite quirky, you can cash in thousands of euros.
For example, one seller pocketed £3,600 after finding a specific serial number on one of their banknotes relating to the year Jane Austen was born.
You can check if your notes are worth anything on eBay, just check ‘completed and sold items’ and filter by the highest value.
It gives you an idea of what people are willing to pay for some banknotes.
But keep in mind that yours is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.
This is also the case for coins, you can determine how rare your coin is by looking at the most recent scarcity index.
The next step is to look at what has sold on eBay recently.
Experts at Change Checker recommend looking at “sold listings” to ensure the coin sold for the specified amount rather than just sitting on the exchange.
People can list things for whatever price they want, but that doesn’t mean it will sell for that amount.
We further explain how to find out if you have a rare coin worth thousands at home.